Everything Is Relative: Part Two
by sydney453
Summary: Post ATY. AU. Sequel to Everything Is Relative. Chapter five added! Please read and review!
1. Chapter One: New Information

Title: Everything Is Relative: Part Two

Author : Sarah  

E-mail: sydney453@yahoo.com

Feedback: Makes my day. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing I tell you! Except the original characters. 

Authors note: This is the sequel to Everything Is Relative, which is why it is so creatively titled Everything Is Relative: Part Two. So you might want to read that first. It picks up immediately after EIR. It's also an unedited unbetaed version. I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what everyone thought.

**Everything Is Relative: Part Two**

**Chapter One- New Information**

New York

Outside Central Park

              Sydney walked down the street quickly, not noticing that her father was trying to catch up to her. 

_"Sydney! Stop, wait for me." _Jack yelled.

Jack jogged up to Sydney and stopped to regain his breath. _"How do you walk so fast in those things?"_ he asked, gesturing at her three inch high sandals. 

_"Practice."_ Sydney spat out and then launched into a diatribe, _"Who the hell does he think he is? He drags me all the way to New York and then refuses to give me any information! I hope he gets run over by a bus."_

Jack attempted to calm Sydney. _"He did say Agent Vaughn was still alive and that they had no intentions of killing him. At least we know that much." _

Sydney snorted and resumed walking at her quick pace. _"He could have told us that in the video. I'm getting really tired of this. We should just go back and retrieve Vaughn ourselves." _

Jack grabbed Sydney's arm and made her stop walking. _"Don't be ridiculous. They've surely left Taipei days ago. Sydney, you need to calm down and think straight."_

Sydney closed her eyes and took a deep breath, _"I just want Agent Vaughn to be back home safely."_

_"That's what we all want Sydney, but we can't start making rash decisions."_ Jack responded, and then dropping his voice to a whisper, he asked, _"Have you removed the microphone?"_ Sydney nodded. _"Good because I need to talk about something with you." _

Jack took Sydney's arm and guided her towards a nearby restaurant. _"This isn't something we should stand in the middle of the street discussing."_

 He pulled open the door and followed Sydney in to the building. _"Good afternoon,"_ the hostess said, _"Table for two?"_

Jack and Sydney both nodded and then followed the hostess as she directed them towards a table near a window.

_"A waiter will be with you shortly_." Jack nodded his thanks as he pulled out a chair for Sydney. 

_"Dad, what's going on?" _

Jack sat down across from Sydney and sighed, _"I didn't want to bring this up today, but since we have a few hours until our flight back, I thought it would be best to just discuss it now."_

Sydney looked confused, _"Discuss what? Has Sloane done something again?"_

Jack shook his head. _"This has nothing to do with Sloane. This is about our family, Sydney. In the video and just now in the park Sark kept referring to Laura as his mother. Would you care to tell me about that?"_

Sydney's eyes widened and she gasped, _"Oh, Dad, I'm so sorry."_

Sydney was interrupted when a waiter came to take their drink order. After brusquely dismissing him with requests for two glasses of white wine, Jack urged Sydney to continue. _"What are you sorry about?"_

Sydney rubbed her temple lightly, something that she did when she was uncomfortable, and then continued, _"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but so much has happened recently, we haven't had any time to speak in private." _

Jack nodded, still not expecting what Sydney was about to say. _"Dad, Sark is your son." _

Jack gasped and muttered, _"I should have known."_

Sydney looked down and fiddled with the cutlery in front of her. _"My.. my mother,"_ it still felt odd to Sydney to say that, _"told me that he was my brother when we were in Taipei. I'm sorry, Dad. I should have told you about this immediately."_ Sydney looked at Jack with tears in her eyes. 

Jack patted Sydney's had and comfortingly said,"It's alright, Sydney. This has been a very emotional time for you and I understand why you didn't want to speak about it."

 Sydney closed her eyes and nodded, trying to collect herself. Jack and Sydney both lapsed into silence, lost in their own thoughts.

              A man watched Sark gradually regain consciousness. He laughed as Sark began to struggle against the hand cuffs that held his hands behind his back. 

The man—an SD-6 agent named Walker—finally broke the silence, _"Nice of you to rejoin me, Mr. Sark."_

Sark began to say something but Agent Walker held up his hand to stop him. _"Oh, you don't have to say anything, I know you appreciate this free trip to Los Angeles. Which is where we're going by the way." _

Sark finally spoke, _"What the hell do you want with me?"_

Agent Walker laughed. _"As if you don't know. Did you and Miss Bristow really think that your meeting would be a secret?"_

Sark swore under his breath, cursing Sydney for not being more careful in her quest to find Agent Vaughn. "_What meeting? Two people who happen to know one another accidentally meet, it's been known to happen." _

Walker laughed quietly, _"Right, the two of you just happened to bump into each other in one of the biggest cities in the country."_

Sark shrugged. _"Stranger things have happened." _

Walker got up and began pacing the walkway. _"We'll be arriving in Los Angeles shortly. I suggest you think of a better story than that one."_

** Los Angeles**

**Arvin Sloane's Home**

               Sloane walked through his garden searching for Audrey. He found her weeding the rose bushes. _"You know we have people who are paid to do that." _

Audrey looked up at her father and smiled. _"Yeah, I know, but it was such a nice day and I didn't have anything else to do. Besides I'd rather be out here doing this than inside doing nothing."_

Sloane nodded, trying not to look at Audrey, who looked so much like Emily at that moment. Glancing up towards the sky he said, _"Your mother loved to be out here too." _

Audrey sat back on her heels, watching her father. _"Is everything alright Dad?" _

Sloane managed a tense smile. _"Yes, fine."_ At Audrey's skeptical look he added, _"Memories."_

Audrey nodded understanding exactly how he felt. Sloane cleared his throat and rocked back and forth on his heels. 

Audrey stood up with an amused smile on her face. _"You're doing it again."_

At Sloane's questioning look, Audrey continued, _"Whenever you have something important to tell me you do that clear your throat, fidget thing. It's cute really." _

Sloane snorted at Audrey's teasing. _"Cute? Oh, that's great. That's just what I want to be."_

Sloane's good-natured smile faded as he became more serious. _"I actually do want to talk to you about something.  There are some things I wanted to discuss with you about your job at SD-6." _

Sloane gestured for Audrey to follow him and they made their way to the chairs by their pool. _"As you know Credit Dauphine is a front for SD-6. So if anyone were to ask you what you do for a living you are to tell them that you are an executive assistant the bank." _

Audrey smirked. _"You mean I don't get to be vice president? Too bad." _

Sloane sent Audrey a chiding glance and continued, _"You'll be coming in with me on your first day and I'll show you to SD-6's offices." _Sloane reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a small card and handed it to Audrey, _"This is your ID, you're to have it on your person at all times." _

Audrey smirked as she looked it over. _"Thanks for using my drivers license photo."_

Sloane rolled his eyes and continued, _"I wanted to spare you the hassle of dealing with administration."_

Audrey nodded, adding _"I appreciate that,"_ in a sarcastic tone of voice.  

Sloane stared at her, _"You have to understand, working at SD-6 is not your average job. It must be taken seriously."_

_"I understand."_ Audrey responded, becoming more serious.  She then asked,  _"Tell me, what exactly will I be doing?"_

Sloane reached into his pocket again and pulled out a key. _"You'll be working with a scientist in research and development. You'll be handling the research part of the job. The man you'll be working with, Marshall, creates the equipment that our agents use during missions. Mostly listening and recording devices." _

He handed Audrey the key. _"This is the key to your and Marshall's office. When you arrive at work on Monday, I'll show you to the office, but I'd advise you to not get too settled until Marshall arrives. He's a bit… high strung and doesn't like strangers poking around in his things. After you're introduced though, feel free to make yourself comfortable." _

Audrey pocketed the key and looked at her father. _"I can't wait."_

               Sydney walked into SD-6 headquarters Monday morning, glancing around for Audrey as she made her way towards her desk. Seeing that Audrey was nowhere to be found, Sydney sat at her desk and attempted to look through the paperwork that she had let pile up over the last week. After a few minutes of idly glancing through the text on the pages, she gave up and sat back in her chair. Sydney was still agitated from her brief visit with Sark and couldn't concentrate. No one had heard anything from Sark or Laura since their meeting and Sydney was beginning to think that they would never contact her again. 

_"Sydney, are you okay?"_ Sydney jumped when Dixon spoke, she hadn't even realized he had sat down at his desk. 

Sydney nodded. _"Oh, fine. Why do you ask?"_

Dixon fixed her with a disbelieving look. _"Well, I've been sitting here for ten minutes and you haven't even looked in my direction. You usually say hi." _

Sydney sighed. _"Dixon, I'm sorry. I've just got a lot of things on my mind."_

Dixon nodded with an understanding look on his face. He lowered his voice and responded, _"Jack told me about this weekend. I'm sorry, this must be very trying for you."_

 Sydney nodded. _"You have no idea."_ She glanced up and saw that Audrey was being shown to Marshall's office by Sloane. _"The fact that Audrey is working here doesn't help matters."_

              Audrey glanced around her new office, taking in all the computers and gadgets lying around. _"There sure is a lot of… stuff in here." _

Sloane chuckled. _"That's all of Marshall's equipment. I honestly don't know what half of it is for, but he gets the job done so I can't complain."_ He glanced down at his watch. _"Marshall should be arriving momentarily. I thought it would be best to introduce you to him first since you'll be working so closely together."_

Audrey continued examining the room. _"I still don't understand exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not what you would call technologically savvy. Impaired would be a better word."_

Sloane nodded. _"Yes, but you have a degree in art history. A lot of the information that we have retrieved recently has come from very ancient sources. Many of the pieces of information are…"_ he paused, trying to find the right word, _"..coded into pieces of art."_

Audrey looked at her father, suspecting he was being vague on purpose and was about to ask another question when Marshall came bursting into the room.

Marshall threw his jacket onto a chair and jumped when he saw that Sloane and Audrey were standing in a corner of the room, watching him. 

_"Um, hi. I was hoping… that you hadn't yet arrived." _Marshall paused, looking uncomfortable. _"But here you are. Sorry I'm late. Traffic. Um, it was bad. Very ba…"_ He trailed off when he saw the look Sloane was giving him. 

"It's fine Marshall. I'd like you to meet my daughter Audrey."

 Marshall reached out to shake Audrey's hand, managing to sputter out_, "It's very nice to meet you. I'm glad to work with you."_

Audrey smiled at Marshall. _"Same here. It should be fun." _

Audrey shot her father an amused look, to which Sloane replied with a shrug. He said, _"I have a meeting right now, so I'll leave you two to get acquainted. I'll show you around the rest of the office later." _

Audrey nodded and watched her father leave. She turned to Marshall and brightly said, _"Well, I'm happy to finally be working here."_

Marshall nodded and began pacing around the office nervously, he gestured towards an empty desk, _"This will be yours. Of course if you don't like it… you can always take mine. If you want." _He paused awkwardly. _"You'll have to excuse the mess, I'm not used to sharing… my, uh, office." _

Audrey nodded and took a deep breath before speaking quickly, _"I'm sure I make you nervous, being the bosses daughter and all, but you really don't have to be. I'm here to do my job, not tattle on you. From what I've heard about your job, it sounds fascinating and I look forward to helping you in any way I can."_

Marshall sat in his chair and watched Audrey warily as she continued to look around the office. _"Oh, I'm not nervous. I'm… thrilled, really." _

Audrey nodded. _"I'm glad."_

Audrey stopped at a work desk and looked into the fishbowl perched upon it. _"That's a nice fish. What kind is it?"_

Marshall got up and stood next to Audrey. _"It's a Samurai fighting fish. His name is Athos."_

Audrey nodded, murmuring _"He's beautiful."_

Marshall nodded his thanks. _"Yeah, I used to have a goldfish in there too. But I didn't realize that the Samurai was carnivorous, so one day I looked up and saw that the goldfish was gone. Apparently the Samurai… got hungry." _

Audrey opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't find the proper response. She finally settled on saying, _"Oh, well…. that's just… awful."_ Marshall nodded and frowned and then wandered away, adding, _"The poor little guy probably never even saw it coming."_

Audrey sat at her desk with a bewildered look on her face, saying, _"Oh, sure."_

               Sydney sat on a chair in Sloane's office, watching him pace across the room. He finally sat down in the chair next to Sydney, and turned to face her. 

_"Sydney I need you to be honest with me."_ Sloane paused when Sydney shot him a questioning look. _"I know that you were in New York over the weekend. You have to tell me why you were there."_ He fixed Sydney with a level gaze, waiting for her to respond. 

Sydney sighed and began to speak, _"Late last week I received an e-mail telling me that someone had information as to the whereabouts of my mother." _

Sydney paused when she was interrupted by Sloane asking, _"That someone was Sark, wasn't it?"_

Sydney nodded. _"Yes, it was Sark. He told me to come to New York alone and not to tell anyone about it."_

Sydney trailed off, allowing Sloane to ask, _"While I don't approve of the way you went about this, I'm happy that you're telling the truth now. What did Sark tell you about your mother?"_

Sydney got up and began pacing the room agitatedly. _"That's just it! He dragged me all the way across the country and then he didn't even tell me anything! He just smirked at me and said he was glad that I was willing to go there."_

Sloane looked up at Sydney. _"Well, Sydney what do you expect from someone like Sark? You should know that he can't be believed. I know that you're anxious to get into contact with your mother, but you need to think before you jump into anything like this again."_

Sydney nodded, looking chastened_. "I know, but it's just so frustrating. Knowing that she's out there somewhere, just out of my reach."_

Sloane nodded his understanding. _"Well you're in luck. Mr. Sark has decided to pay us a visit. He's being brought to the office as we speak."  _

Sydney gasped. _"You kidnapped him?"_

Sloane chuckled. _"Kidnapped is such a harsh word. I like to think we borrowed him for a while. Don't worry Sydney, if he cooperates we might let him go."_

Sydney nodded, trying to keep the emotions that she was feeling off of her face. She started to get up, _"If there's nothing else, I'd like to say hello to Audrey." _

Sloane got up to open the door. _"No we're done here. I'll contact you when Sark arrives."_

End Episode One


	2. Chapter Two: Caught

Title: Everything Is Relative: Part Two

Author : Sarah  

E-mail: sydney453@yahoo.com

Feedback: Makes my day. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing I tell you! Except the original characters. 

Authors note: This is the sequel to Everything Is Relative, which is why it is so creatively titled Everything Is Relative: Part Two. So you might want to read that first. It picks up immediately after EIR. It's also an unedited unbetaed version. I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what everyone thought.

**Everything Is Relative: Part Two**

Chapter Two-  Caught

Dublin

Laura Bristow's Office

               Laura Bristow paced her office, seething with anger. She'd spent more than twenty years planning what she hoped would change the world forever and now every carefully thought out plan had fallen apart.  The device was no more. Sydney was out of her grasp. And now Sark had gone missing. All that she was left with was an amnesiac CIA agent, whom nobody seemed as interested in as she had originally hoped. Her son had been gone for more than forty-eight hours without any contact. Laura knew that this meant he had walked into some sort of a trap. 

Khasinau walked into the room and shook his head, indicating that there still had been no contact from Sark. Laura sat at her desk and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. It didn't help. 

"How many times have I told him to be more careful? I warned him something like this would happen! Even after being caught by SD-6 last time, he still goes out into a dangerous situation on his own. You'd think he would have learned his lesson by now!" she exclaimed.

Laura got up and began pacing the room again. _"And I want his driver dead! What the hell was he doing sitting there in his car when he knew he was also supposed to act as a bodyguard?"_

Khasinau answered Laura's question quickly. _"The driver claims that Alexander threatened to shoot him if he followed." _

Laura chuckled at that. _"That's just like him."_ Then, growing more serious, she added, _"If we don't hear from Alexander by the end of the day Agent Vaughn dies."_

Los Angeles

SD-6 Headquarters

               Sark glanced out of the limousine's window and groaned when he realized where they were. _"So I'll be visiting with  Mr. Sloane again today? That's just terrific." _

Agent Walker didn't answer Sark, instead he went about the motions of uncuffing him. _"If you try to escape, I'll shoot you in the head.", _Walker said before opening the door.  

Sark rolled his eyes and muttered, "_Oh, I wouldn't dream of doing that."_ under his breath.

Walker yanked Sark out of the car, and grabbed his elbow as he led him towards the entrance. Once inside SD-6's offices, Sark glanced around for Sydney. He wasn't disappointed, he saw her exiting an office with Sloane. 

_"Sydney, nice to see you again!"_ he called out in greeting. 

Sydney turned around and then gave him an exasperated look when she realized that most of the people in the office were now looking in her direction. 

She stalked over towards him, with Sloane in tow. _"I'd really appreciate it if you would refrain from yelling out my name."_

Sark just smirked at her.  

Sloane gestured towards a door and said, _"I think it would be best for us to have our conversation in here."_

               Audrey watched Marshall putter around his office as if he was looking for something. _"Aha!"_ Audrey guessed he'd found what he was looking for. 

Marshall gestured for Audrey to follow him as he walked over towards a long table by the door and set a box down on it with a thump. 

At Audrey's questioning look, Marshall launched into an explanation.  _"We had found this piece in Leeds a few months ago, but had set it aside because we got sidetracked by other things…"_ he trailed off when he noticed that instead of listening to him, Audrey was staring out of the room's windows into SD-6's main offices. 

_"Audrey, are you… with me?"_ Marshall asked.

Audrey snapped back to attention, replying _"Sorry Marshall, for a minute there, I thought I'd seen someone I knew, but it couldn't be him."_ She shook her head and looked at Marshall. _"Please continue." _

Marshall opened the box and looked happy when Audrey gasped as he took out what was inside. 

_"It is impressive, isn't it?"_ Marshall asked, but then was disappointed to find that Audrey still wasn't looking at him. Marshall glanced at what she was looking at, realizing that it was Sloane and his group. 

"Yeah, it's a… shock when you first realize that the people who work for the bad guys… look like any one of us." 

Audrey nodded, asking, _"So he's one of the bad guys?"_

_"Oh, yeah. He's… done away with many people."_ Seeing that Audrey had gone pale, Marshall quickly added, _"But we've got him now, so there's nothing to worry about." _

Audrey nodded and then quickly turned around when she saw that the group was headed in their direction. _"Oh, absolutely. Nothing to worry about at all." _

Sighing with relief when she realized that they weren't entering the room that she was in, Audrey finally glanced at the object sitting on the table. _"This is beautiful, you said you found it in Leeds?"_

Marshall nodded. _"It was excavated from a building site. One of our agents recovered it for us back in March, but we'd been so occupied with other projects that we never got the chance to research it." _

Audrey listened to Marshall as she examined the object. _"Well, it's a triptych. Do you know what that is?"_

Marshall shook his head and Audrey explained, gesturing at the elaborately carved wooden panels as she spoke. _"Do you see how these three partitions are hinged? That's basically what a triptych is. This technique was used most frequently in Rome in the late seventeenth century. I don't understand how it wound up being excavated in Leeds." _

Marshall shrugged and looked sheepish. _"When I said excavated… I meant stolen. Or maybe confiscated would be a better word…"_

Audrey looked confused. _"I still don't understand how it wound up on a building site."_

_"Well, the building site was the site of someone's house addition. One of our agents took a little detour into the homeowners safe and came across it."_ Marshall saw the look Audrey was giving him and tried to explain. _"We'd seen mentions of this piece in a few manuscripts and thought it would be best to have it in our possession."_

Audrey nodded, finally understanding. _"So you sent someone in posing as an architect or contractor and had them steal it."_

Marshall nodded. _"Yep, that's what we did. But I don't want you to get the wrong idea, Audrey. We had reason to believe that this would provide us with some essential information. SD-6 doesn't just go around stealing things without reason."_

Audrey glanced up from the piece. _"I know."_

Sark watched as Sloane got up from his chair and paced the floor in front of him. Sark, Sloane, and Sydney had been sitting in an interrogation room for five minutes and no one had yet to speak. Sark guessed this was Sloane's way of intimidating him. 

Sloane finally spoke. _"Sydney tells me that you contacted her earlier in the week claiming to have information as to the whereabouts of her mother."_ He reclaimed his seat and leaned on the table in front of him, staring into Sark's eyes. _"She also tells me that you refused to relay that information to her after dragging her across the country. I don't think she appreciated that, and quite frankly neither do I."_

Sloane glared at Sark. _"Now, you are going to tell us everything you know about Laura Bristow or I'll arrange for you to meet with Agent McCullough. Do you know who he is, Mr. Sark?"_

Sark pondered this question for a minute and then smiled. _"From what I have heard Agent McCullough is a psychologist. I've also heard he's not mentally … all there."_

Sloane smirked at Sark. _"I doubt very much that Agent McCullough would appreciate that description. He's one of out best and most… effective agents."_

Sydney, who had been watching this exchange quietly finally spoke up. _"Enough of this  posturing!" _She turned to face Sark. _"Look, this will be much easier for you if you just cooperate."_

Sark rolled his eyes. _"Oh, I'm sure you'll immediately release me once I tell you everything. Sydney, please. This isn't how the game is played." _He gazed at Sloane. _"I'm sure you're well versed as to how it's played. But the time will come when the rules are changed. And that time is swiftly approaching."_ He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

Sloane chuckled, _"Hearing those words from someone in your situation is very amusing."_ He turned more serious and glared at Sark again. _"One way or another you will tell me everything you know."_

Sark raised his eyebrows. _"And if I don't?"_

Sloane got up from the table and fixed Sark with one final glare before exiting the room without answering Sark's question.

Sydney rolled her eyes and sighed. As she got up to leave the room she said, _"Just tell us what you know."_

Sark smirked knowingly, _"Do you want me to tell Sloane everything I know Sydney?"_

Sydney and Sark stared at each other for a few seconds before she turned and left the room.

Dublin

Laura Bristow's Office

               Laura watched as Khasinau pushed Agent Vaughn into a chair in front of her desk. She glared at him, taking in the apprehensive look on his face. _"So Agent Vaughn we've given you a few days alone to think. Have you remembered anything?"_

Vaughn fidgeted in his chair as Laura's glare made him more and more uncomfortable. _"Look, you and I both know that I can't give you what you want."_ He closed his eyes . _"Do you have any idea what it's like to spend four days alone in a room, not knowing who you are, where you are or why you're there?"_

Laura stared at him, unimpressed.

Vaughn continued. _"There's like this giant void where my life was. It feels like there's… something in the back of my mind. Something that I can't grasp or know. Memories probably. Maybe faces. You know when you are trying to think of a word, and it's on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't think of it? That's what this feels like. I want to remember everything because there's nothing that I want more than to help you and get out of here but I just can't. And it's so frustrating."_ Vaughn dropped his head into his hands.

Laura glared at Vaughn. _"Well Agent Vaughn, you may not have to worry about you memory troubles for much longer."_ Vaughn glanced up, looking hopeful. Laura continued, _"My son has gone missing and I have a feeling your friend at SD-6 may have something to do with it. If he does not contact me by the end of the day, I will kill you."_

Vaughn gasped and stared at Laura. _"You can't do this! I'm just an innocent bystander in all this."_

Laura laughed. _"No one here is innocent."_

Los Angeles

SD-6 Headquarters

              Agent McCullough tightened the vice that he had attached to Sark's hand, enjoying the way he grimaced in pain. _"Tell us what you know about Laura Bristow, or the pain will only get worse."_

Sark glared at McCullough, not saying a word.

Sloane and Sydney watched from behind an observation mirror. Sydney shook her head. _"I don't understand, he's been in there with McCullough for an hour and he hasn't said a word."_

Sloane sighed. _"I told McCullough to go easy on him in the hopes that he would cooperate with us, but that doesn't seem to be working. No matter, we have a… specialist coming to speak with him tomorrow."_

Sydney gasped, thinking of what Suit and Glasses had done to Will. Sloane glanced at her and then placed what he thought was a comforting hand on Sydney's arm. _"Don't worry Sydney, we won't kill him until he tells us about your mother."_

Marshall watched Audrey as she sat at her desk staring into space. He'd noticed that she had been distracted ever since she had seen Sark with her father and Sydney.

_"Um, Audrey?"_ Marshall asked. _"Is everything alright?"_

Audrey leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. _"That man who was with my father seemed so young. How could he be a killer?"_ She shook her head. _"I don't understand things like this."_

Marshall looked at her sympathetically. _"I'm sure it's hard for you to see this on your first day."_ He paused and then shrugged. _"You'll get used to it though. And then you'll be glad that we're talking people like that off of the streets."_

Audrey nodded. She and Marshall both watched as the door to the interrogation room opened and a bedraggled Sark exited. _"They had him in there for three hours. Where do you think they're taking him?"_ she asked.

Marshall shrugged. _"Rumor has it that he won't give us any information. He's being taken to a safe house until someone who is more… practiced in information extraction arrives."_

              Sark sighed as two agents manhandled him out of the building and into the parking garage. Three hours of torture and two hours of waiting to leave for the safe house had put Sark in a nasty mood. He pulled out of the grasp of one of the agents. _"Let go of me! I'm perfectly capable of walking under my own power. Where do you think I'm going to escape to when I'm handcuffed? Idiot."_ The only response Sark received was a grunt from one of the agents.

The other agent gestured at a nearby SUV and shoved Sark towards it. _"Just go to the car."_

Sark sighed again and walked towards the car. He turned around quickly when he heard the distinct sound of a body hitting the ground. He watched as a black-clad figure shoved a stun gun into the chest of the other agent and rendered him unconscious. The person then glanced around, searching for a video camera. Not finding one the person ripped of their mask.

Sark grinned._ "Hello love."_

End Episode Two


	3. Chapter Three: Released

Title: Everything Is Relative: Part Two

Author : Sarah  

E-mail: sydney453@yahoo.com

Feedback: Makes my day. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing I tell you! Except the original characters. 

Authors note: This is the sequel to Everything Is Relative, which is why it is so creatively titled Everything Is Relative: Part Two. So you might want to read that first. It picks up immediately after EIR. It's also an unedited unbetaed version. I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what everyone thought.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this. It really does make my day!

**Everything Is Relative: Part Two**

Chapter Three- Released

Los Angeles

SD-6 Headquarters

               Audrey smirked at Sark then knelt down to search the unconscious agents pockets for the keys to Sark's handcuffs. _"Don't "hello love" me Alexander." _

She found the key in one agents coat pocket and uncuffed Sark. She asked, _"Is there any particular reason why you showed up here on my first day of work or do you just like making me nervous?" _

Audrey and Sark got up from the ground and brushed themselves off. Sark smirked at Audrey and said nothing. Audrey rolled her eyes at him and said, _"Follow me."_ She stalked over towards a van and unlocked it. Glaring at him, she ordered, _"Get in."_

Sark raised his eyebrows at Audrey and grinned at her again. _"You're mad at me! Well I apologize for causing you trouble…"_

An indignant Audrey interrupted, saying, _"Oh you certainly did cause me trouble. I almost had a heart attack when I saw you standing there with my father and Sydney!" _

Sark chuckled and settled into his seat. _"I caught a glimpse of you before I was taken to the interrogation room. The look on your face was priceless."_

Audrey rolled her eyes at Sark as she started the van and gunned the engine, quickly exiting the parking garage. _"Yeah, well Marshall saw that look as well.  I had to give a big speech on how I don't understand why people do bad things and how scary it was to be so close to such a big bad man as yourself." _

Sark laughed out loud at that. _"You should be afraid of me love."_ He paused for a second, looking back at SD-6 headquarters. _"So how did you manage to get away from the office?"_

Audrey smirked. _"I flexed my acting muscles some more and faked an asthma attack. You would have been proud of me. It was beautiful. Such a scene. There were tears and everything. And stop calling me love!"_

Audrey pulled into another parking garage and parked in a spot not far from the entrance. 

Sark glanced around warily in search of signs that they may have been spotted. _"Do you think we're being followed?"_

Audrey shook her head. _"I don't think so. They've probably just figured out that you've gone missing. But I think it would be best to switch cars, just in case."_

The got out of the van and made their way towards a shiny new Cadillac Escalade.  Sark looked at it appraisingly. _"Very nice choice Audrey. How did you manage to procure such a fine vehicle, or should I not ask?"_

Audrey grinned at Sark. _"Oh, you know, I was bored the other day so I decided to steal a few cars. You should see the sweet Jag I've got sitting in another parking garage across town."_

Sark grinned at her again. _"Smart ass."_

Audrey rolled her eyes at Sark and reached down to the car's undercarriage, searching for the keys. _"I called Laura and explained your predicament and after she stopped yelling about how much of an irresponsible jackass you are, she said that we'd find this car here when we arrived."_

They both got in the car. Audrey turned to face Sark, all traces of the smile that had been on her face throughout their good-natured banter were now gone. _"Would you care to tell me what happened?"_

Sark shrugged, looking embarrassed. _"I'll admit that I was careless. But how could I have known that your father would find out about Sydney's trip and have her followed?"_

Audrey started up the car and sighed exasperatedly. _"Alex, if there's one thing I've told you about my father, it's that he has ways of finding out about everything."_ She paused for a minute and reconsidered that last thought. _"Okay, maybe not everything. He still thinks I'm all sweetness and light."_

Sark let out a loud laugh after hearing that. _"He's in for a rude awakening."_

               Sloane slammed a hand down on his desk. _"Son of a bitch!"_

Everyone in the office jumped a little, not used to seeing Sloane behaving so emotionally. _"How the hell did he manage to get away again?"_ He glared at the two agents who were supposed to be watching Sark.

The second agent to be rendered unconscious, Agent James, said, _"I don't know. One minute I was walking towards the car then I heard a noise and I turned around and saw that Agent Oakes was on the ground, twitching. Then I got zapped."_ He shook his head in frustration. _"I never got a glimpse of the person who knocked us out."_

Agent Oakes nodded in agreement. _"Whoever it was came at us from behind. Neither of us heard a thing."_

Sloane glared at the two men. _"Find Sark."_ He stalked off towards his office and slammed the door.

               Sydney watched Sloane disappear into his office and attempted to hide a smile. She was grateful to whoever it was that had set Sark free. All day Sydney had been afraid that Sark might tell Sloane about the true reasons behind their meeting. She watched as Jack gestured for her to come into his office.

Once Sydney was inside, Jack began speaking to her excitedly. _"Not long after Sark disappeared, the CIA received another e-mail from your mother."_

Sydney rolled her eyes. _"Please tell me I don't have to decode any more videos."_

Jack shook his head. _"No, this was pretty straightforward. She wants you to be in Dublin tomorrow afternoon. She said she'll have another message for you at the airport."_

Sydney nodded excitedly. _"This is good right? The fact that she has begun to communicate with us again means that we're another step closer to rescuing Agent Vaughn."_

Jack shook his head warily. _"I don't like this. She keeps having you fly off all around the world. She thinks this is still a game."_

Sydney stared at her father, looking confused. _"So you're telling me I shouldn't go?"_

_"Of course not Sydney."_ Jack sighed. _"I want to get this over with as much as you. You have been booked on a flight to Dublin departing in an hour. That leaves you just enough time to get to the airport."_

Sydney nodded and then asked, _"But what about Sloane? How am I going to get away from here?"_

Jack took Sydney's arm and lead her towards the door. _"You leave that to me. What you need to do is get out of here as quickly as possible. I'll call you in a half an hour with your flight details."_

Dublin

Laura Bristow's Offices

               Agent Vaughn focused his attention on the door of his room as it swung open and Laura entered. _"Hello Agent Vaughn. Have you remembered anything since we last spoke?" _

Vaughn sighed dejectedly. _"You already know the answer to that question."_

Laura smiled at Agent Vaughn. _"Well, Agent Vaughn, you're in luck. My son will be arriving home shortly, so your stay with us has been prolonged."_

Vaughn raised his eyebrows questioningly. _"When the hell am I going to get out of here? I just want to go… home."_ Vaughn sighed. _"Where ever that is."_

Laura chucked at Vaughn and then began to pace the room. _"You are not in the position to be asking questions like that. You'll be leaving when I say you can leave." _She narrowed eyes at Vaughn and glared at him._ "If I decide to allow you to leave."_

Vaughn stared at Laura. _"You said that I could leave when you got into contact with that person at SD-6 whom you wanted to speak with. Why hasn't that happened yet?"_

_"Agent Vaughn,"_ Laura snapped. _"It would be in your best interests to refrain from asking questions that make me angry. You will find out your fate tomorrow." _

_"What kind of cryptic remark is that?"_ Vaughn angrily asked. _"You've kept me here for almost a week and you still won't tell me anything and now you have the gall to say something like that. You don't have any right to do this to me!"_

Laura laughed. _"I see you've finally decided to grow a backbone."_ She glared at Vaughn. _"You'd better watch out or it might get you killed."_ She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room slamming the door behind her.

Vaughn paced across the floor of  the small room and glared at the locked door. He sat down on the bed and closed his eyes, attempting to remember the floor plan of the building. Vaughn knew that the time for his escape was rapidly approaching. He needed a plan.

**Los Angeles**

**SD-6 Headquarters**

               Jack knocked on Sloane's door. Sydney had left for the airport ten minutes ago and he needed to get his meeting with Sloane over with so he could relay Sydney's flight plans to her.

"Come in." Sloane said from behind the closed door.

Jack pushed open the door and walked over towards Sloane's desk. "_We received a tip about twenty minutes ago as to the whereabouts of Sark."_ Sloane raised his eyebrows and waited for Jack to continue. 

Jack continued. _"He was spotted heading north."_

Sloane shook his head. _"Where do you think he's going? Canada?"_

Jack nodded. _"That's our best guess. I've sent Sydney out in an attempt to find him."_

_"Why would he be heading in that direction?"_ Sloane asked. _"He has to know that he will be stopped at the border."_

Jack shrugged. "_He's desperate. Desperate men do stupid things."_

_"Why did you send Sydney after him?"_ Sloane asked. _"We could have sent men who are more skilled in apprehension to retrieve him."_

Jack sighed. _"She wouldn't take no for an answer. She feels that she is somehow responsible for his disappearance."_

Sloane narrowed his eyes. _"She'd better find him. I'm getting very tired of Sark."_  
**Los Angeles International Airport**

               Audrey pulled into a spot in the heavily crowded airport parking lot. _"Your flight doesn't leave for another half an hour. I think it would be best for us to stay here where it's most crowded until then."_

Sark nodded in agreement and then looked at Audrey. _"So how is everything going? Does Sydney still trust you?"_

_"Of course she trusts me."_ Audrey smirked. _"What's not to trust? I'm just Arvin Sloane's lovable little girl who got tricked into joining SD-6 by a bad man." _She laughed. _"You should have seen Sydney's face when I told her I was going to work with her."_

Sark chuckled. _"You should have seen her face when she found out I was her brother." _

They both laughed.

Audrey sighed and shook her head. "_Your getting caught by SD-6 really threw a wrench in my plans. I was all set to tell her all about what a wonderful person my boyfriend was and then have her find out it was you, but now what the hell am I going to do? She knows I saw you."_ Audrey glared at Sark. _"Has anybody ever told you that you can be a gigantic pain in the ass?"_

Sark grinned at Audrey, unfazed by her outburst. _"It's really simple, love. You find her and tell her that your asthma attack was brought on by the fact that you saw your wonderful loving boyfriend handcuffed and being led into an interrogation room like a common criminal."_ Sark patted Audrey's arm. "_It will be great, you'll see. You can go on and on about how your heart has been broken and you can't trust anyone any more and woe is you, etcetera. Have fun with it. You know, sob a lot. Maybe fake another asthma attack. That was a nice touch by the way."_

Audrey laughed. _"So now you're my acting coach? Thanks for the advice."_

They sat there in silence for a few minutes watching the people entering the airport.

_"So I heard your father whacked Dreyer. Too bad."_ Sark said.

Audrey nodded. _"Yeah, but what can you do? It wasn't like we didn't expect that to happen."_

_"Well Dreyer certainly didn't."_ Sark chuckled.

Audrey rolled her eyes. _"You are one twisted individual."_

Sark grinned at Audrey. _"I get that a lot. But come on, you know you love me."_

_"Ha!"_ Audrey snorted. _"Don't you wish."_

Audrey and Sark sat in the van in silence for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts.

Sark checked his watch. _"I think it's time for us to go."_

               Sydney walked into the airport and headed for the international departures area. She had no idea what airline she was flying on or what time her plane would be leaving. She sat down on a chair near a window as her cell phone rang.

"_Hello."_ Sydney said.

_"Sydney."_ Jack said. _"Are you at the airport?"_

_"Yeah Dad, I'm here."_ Sydney replied._ " Near international departures. I assume I'm in the right place."_

_"You are."_ Jack answered. _"Your flight leaves at six fifteen. It's the only flight to Dublin departing at that time, you can't miss it."_

Sydney got up and looked at the computer screen listing departures. _"Right, I see it. Gate sixteen. I'll be there."_ She paused. "_Is there anything else I should know?"_

_"Agent Weiss will be flying to Dublin in a couple of hours."_ Jack responded. "_He'll be tailing you, but don't attempt to contact him unless it's absolutely necessary. You'll find more information on the plane in the pocket of the chair in front of you."_

_"Right. Thanks Dad."_ Sydney said. _"Thanks for all your help with this."_

_"Of course Sydney."_ Jack replied. _"Be careful."_

_"I will Dad. Don't worry."_ Sydney hung up and made her way towards gate sixteen. Sydney glanced down and put her cell phone in her bag, but turned around when she accidentally bumped into someone heading in the opposite direction. _"Excuse me."_

She paused. _"Audrey! What are you doing here?"_

End episode three.


	4. Chapter Four: Telling Lies

Title: Everything Is Relative: Part Two

Author : Sarah  

E-mail: sydney453@yahoo.com

Feedback: Makes my day. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing I tell you! Except the original characters. 

Authors note: This is the sequel to Everything Is Relative, which is why it is so creatively titled Everything Is Relative: Part Two. So you might want to read that first. It picks up immediately after EIR. It's also an unedited unbetaed version. I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what everyone thought.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this. It really does make my day!

**Everything Is Relative: Part Two**

Chapter Four- Telling Lies

Los Angeles

Los Angels International Airport

               _"Sydney!"_ Audrey gasped. _"You're the last person I expected to see here."_

Sydney nodded and stared into Audrey's eyes. _"I could say the same for you. Shouldn't you be at home resting?"_

Audrey sighed uncomfortably and fiddled with her pocket book strap. _"I did go home. For a while. Then I went out to the drugstore and…"_ She trailed off as tears filled her eyes.

_"Audrey sweetie, what's wrong?"_ Sydney took Audrey by her elbow and guided her over towards a pair of empty chairs.

Sydney patted Audrey on the back and watched as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

_"I was coming out of the drugstore when this man in a big van pulled up beside me and ordered me to get in."_ Audrey paused as she took a deep, shuddering breath. She stared with tear-filled eyes at Sydney. _"He pointed a gun at me and told me to get behind the wheel and to drive to SD-6 headquarters."_

Sydney gasped as she realized where Audrey was going with her story. _"Tell me what happened next. Please."_

Audrey pushed her long hair out of her face and closed her eyes, remembering. _"He had me park the van near the entrance to the building and went to… I don't know…. hide somewhere I guess. Before he closed the van's door, he said that if I tried to get away he would shoot me."_

Sydney placed and encouraging hand on Audrey's arm and urged her to continue. _"I know this is hard for you, but please go on."_

Audrey nodded at Sydney and tried to calm herself. _"I watched in the rearview mirror as three men came out of the building. One was handcuffed and the other two had guns trained on him, I assume they were CIA. Then the man who held me at gunpoint jumped out from behind them and knocked  both of the agents unconscious in a few seconds. It looked like he had a stun gun of some sort."_

Audrey closed her eyes and slumped down in her seat. _"Honestly, Sydney. I know that a CIA job is dangerous and everything, but this is ridiculous. I thought I'd be pushing papers around for Marshall, not helping a criminal escape."_ She paused and then sighed deeply.  _"On my first day."_

Sydney looked at Audrey sympathetically. _"I know this is a difficult situation to process, but you have to tell me everything else that happened."_

Audrey shrugged. _"Nothing much. The man uncuffed the guy the CIA had in custody and then they got in the van and told me to drive here. They made me park the van and come with them , to quote the man who made me get in the van, 'as insurance'.  Once they got to the terminal where their private plane was located, they let me go. Then I ran into you. What are you doing here anyway?"_

_"I've been searching for someone too. I hope to find that person soon..."_ Sydney's vague answer trailed off as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket book and began to dial someone. 

_"Who are you calling?"_ Audrey asked.

Sydney replied _"My father." _without looking at Audrey.

Audrey gasped_. "Please don't do that. I just can't bear to think about this any more today."_

Sydney held up her hand as Jack picked up the phone. _"Dad? I need you to get down to the airport as soon as you can. I have a big problem."_ She turned to Audrey and looked at her sternly. _"I'm not going to argue with you about this. I have to leave soon, so  you have to talk to my father."_

               Audrey and Sydney sat in an uncomfortable silence for the ten minutes they had alone until Jack arrived.

_"I was nearby when you called me."_ Jack said by way of explanation for his quick arrival when Sydney got up to greet him. He glanced over Sydney's shoulder and saw that Audrey was still slumped dejectedly in her seat. _"Why is Audrey here?"_

Sydney explained Audrey's situation to Jack and the two made their way over to where Audrey was sitting.

Jack said hello to Audrey while Sydney listened to her flight being called over the public address system. 

_"They're calling my flight."_ Sydney glanced hesitantly at the terminal and then back at Audrey. _"Will you be all right?"_

Audrey nodded and responded, _"I'll be fine Syd. Don't worry about me."_

Jack stared Sydney in the eyes. _"Be careful Sydney."_

Sydney smiled at her father as she pulled her ticket out of her pocket book.  _"I will Dad. Don't worry."_

Sydney waved her goodbye as Jack sat down next to Audrey. They both watched in silence as Sydney disappeared down the terminal. Audrey shifted uncomfortably in her seat and glanced warily at Jack.  _"What are we going to do now?"_

_"Let's not talk about that here."_ Jack got up and gestured for Audrey to follow him. _"I think it would be better for us to discuss this situation in my car." _

Jack began to walk swiftly towards the exits with Audrey close behind. _"What are we going to do about the van?"_ Audrey asked.

_"That's for me to worry about."_ Jack said as he held a door open for Audrey and they both exited the building. _"Right now  you need to come with me."_

Jack unlocked the doors to the car and he and Audrey both got in. He turned to face Audrey. _"What are you hiding?"_

               Sydney leafed through the papers that she had found in the seat pocket in front of her. Everything that she needed was laid out for her. The time of her arrival in Dublin. The hotel where she could spend the night if it was necessary. A map of downtown Dublin. Everything was there except the one thing that she wanted the most; knowledge of Vaughn's whereabouts. Sydney leaned back in her seat and sighed, listening to the sounds of the plane taking off. She knew that she had to come home from this trip with Vaughn. She'd stopped caring about how she would deal with her mother after her meeting with Sark. All that mattered to her now was Vaughn.

               Audrey chuckled uneasily. _"What makes you think I'm hiding something Jack?"_

Jack continued to stare at Audrey. _"I've know you since you were a little girl Audrey. I know when you are keeping something from me. Now please tell me what it is that you are hiding."_

Jack wasn't prepared for the reaction that he received from Audrey. She put her head in her hands and began to sob. Jack awkwardly put his arm around her shoulder and attempted to comfort her. _"It will be okay Audrey. You don't have to cry. I know that what happened to you today must have been traumatizing, but I'm sure you'll feel better if you tell me everything."_

Audrey leaned back in her seat and brushed tears away from her eyes. She sighed deeply and stared out the window for a few minutes before responding. _"That man that you call Sark, I know him."_

Jack gazed at Audrey with a look of disbelief on his face. _"How do you know him?"_

_"I met him in college. He was a couple of years ahead of me. We dated on and off throughout my junior and senior years." _Audrey fidgeted in her seat, remembering. _"I hadn't seen him much recently, but I'd assumed it was because he had started a job."_ Audrey snorted derisively. _"I never would have thought that his job was to murder innocent people."_

Jack stared at Audrey with a serious look on his face. _"I need you to tell me everything that you know about him. Name, age, information about his family; anything you tell me will be a help."_

_"His name is Alexander Derevko. He was two years ahead of me at Oxford. Since I had skipped a grade in high school, I assumed he was three  years older than me."_ Audrey turned away from Jack and went back to staring out the window. _"He didn't really mention his family all that much. I know that he was raised by his mother and that he had never met his father. He also mentioned that he was named after his uncle."_ Audrey shrugged and glanced at Jack. _"That's it. That's all I really know about him."_ She shook her head and sighed. _"After a two year long relationship that's all I know about him. How could I not have known that he was hiding something?"_ Audrey closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "_This is giving me a headache."_

Jack looked Audrey over thoughtfully.  _"Is this why you had the asthma attack at the office?"_

Audrey nodded, embarrassed. _"I saw him standing there with my father and almost fainted, but I managed to compose myself. Then Marshall told me some of the things that he had done and it just… overwhelmed me. He was always so wonderful to me, I never expected to learn something like this about him."_

Jack glanced out the window, looking around the parking lot. _"Did he ever ask you about your father? About what he does?"_

Audrey shrugged. _"All he knew about my family was that my father worked for a bank and that my mother was sick. I never mentioned SD-6 to him, if that's what you're getting at."_

Jack nodded. _"That's good."_ Jack started the engine of his car and pulled out of the parking lot.

Audrey glanced at Jack. _"Where are we going?"_

Jack didn't look at Audrey as he drove. _"I'm taking you home. We need to tell your father everything that you know."_

_"I can't do that Jack!"_ Audrey gasped. _"You and I both know he'll find him and kill him. As much as I hate what Alexander has done and the way he lied to me, there will always be a little part of me that loves him. I can't have that on my conscience. I won't be the reason for his death."_

_"Audrey, we have to tell your father. There's no way to hide something of this magnitude from him."_ Jack glanced at Audrey and saw that she was looking like she was going to cry again. _"Your father will not kill Sark, Audrey. You have my word on that."_ Jack went back to staring at the road ahead, knowing that he had made an empty promise.

Audrey just sighed and muttered under her breath, _"I can't believe he calls himself Mr. Sark. Who the hell does he think he is, James Bond?"_

Arvin Sloane's Home

               Jack and Audrey pulled up to her house and glanced at each other.

_"I don't want to do this."_ Audrey sighed.

Jack got out of the car and walked over to open the door to Audrey's side of the car. _"You have to."_

Audrey walked up to the front door and let herself and Jack in. They were immediately greeted by an anxious Sloane.

_"Audrey, where were you? I've been worried sick."_ Sloane said.

_"There's something I need to talk to you about Dad."_ Audrey responded. She made her way into the living room and sat down and waited while Jack and Sloane made themselves comfortable before she told her father the whole story. _"If I had known the truth about what Alexander really was I would have told you everything long ago."_

Sloane glared at Audrey. _"Like you told me at the office today."_ He shook his head. _"I'm surprised at you Audrey. Why didn't you tell me who Sark really was the second you saw him?"_

Audrey gaped at her father. _"Well aside from the fact that I couldn't breathe, I figured my running up to you yelling 'Sark is my boyfriend' might have caused a commotion."_ She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. _"You don't have any right to put the blame for his disappearance on me! I found out the man that I thought I loved was… god, I don't even know what. A murder. A liar. Who knows what else."_ She trailed off as tears sprang to her eyes.

Sloane reached out and too Audrey's hand. _"Sweetheart, I'm not blaming you for anything."_ he said softly. _"I know what a shock this has been for you and I apologize for sounding so harsh."_

Audrey looked at her father. _"What are you going to do now?"_

Sloane shook his head. _"We need to find him, that's the most important thing. Then we need to get as much information out of him as possible."_

Audrey stared into her father's eyes. _"You have to promise me that you won't hurt him."_

_"I can't promise you anything."_ Sloane got up and paced the room. _"Harmed or not, Sark will be back in my custody soon."_

Audrey got up to face her father. _"You can't do that! You can't hurt him."_

Sloane glared at Audrey once again. _"I don't understand why you care for him so much. The man is a cold blooded murderer. What if he comes back and tries to kill you?"_

Audrey shook her head as she fought back tears. _"He would never do that! He cares for me."_

Sloane stared into his daughter's eyes. _"You're just too damn immature to understand this!"_

Audrey sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. _"I'm sorry you feel that way."_ She turned and left the room.

               Audrey closed the door to her bedroom and started digging through her purse. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a familiar number. When her call was answered she said, _"I want to be there."_

End episode four.

AN: I decided to repost this chapter because there were a couple of little things I needed to change because I am a perfectionist. This chapter was a lot of blah, blah, blah and not much action, but what has been said here will bear greatly on what I have planned for the next couple of chapters. Anyway, I'm hard at work on the next chapter and will probably have it finished by the end of the weekend or early next week. I just felt the need to share that.


	5. Chapter Five: Reunion

Title: Everything Is Relative: Part Two

Author : Sarah  

E-mail: sydney453@yahoo.com

Feedback: Makes my day. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing I tell you! Except the original characters. 

Authors note: This is the sequel to Everything Is Relative, which is why it is so creatively titled Everything Is Relative: Part Two. So you might want to read that first. It picks up immediately after EIR. It's also an unedited unbetaed version. I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what everyone thought.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this. It really does make my day!

**Everything Is Relative: Part Two**

Chapter Five- Reunion

Los Angeles

Arvin Sloane's Home

               _"Audrey, tell me what's wrong."_ the voice on the other end of Audrey's call, Laura, said.

Audrey stalked over towards her closet and yanked a large duffel bag out of the back. _"My father. That's what's wrong."_

Laura interrupted. _"Tell me everything. From the beginning. You sound upset."_

_"You already know the beginning. Your idiot son got himself caught by my father, and I had to rescue his sorry ass."_ Audrey threw a pair of jeans and a sweater into her bag and took a calming breath. Feeling slightly more rational, she continued. _"I apologize for calling Alexander an idiot, but he really infuriates me sometimes. After I dropped Alexander off at the airport, I bumped into Sydney. I had to make up a story about being forced to drive the getaway car for Alex and one of your goons." _

Laura gasped. _"What did she do next? Did she call your father?"_

_"Oh, no. I'm not done yet. It gets better."_ Audrey threw herself onto her bed and continued. _"Sydney called Jack, who escorted me home. Only he didn't just take me home, he knew I was hiding something. I had to tell him about Alex being my 'boyfriend'. I know we had planned on using that story to manipulate Sydney, but what else could I have done?"_

_"No, you did the right thing."_ Laura said. _"I have a feeling that all this may be ending soon, so you won't have to worry about anything for much longer."_

_"Which brings me to the reason why I called you."_ Audrey got up from her bed and watched as her father and Jack walked out the front door and began a conversation in front of the house. _"I want to be in Dublin when you confront Sydney." _

Laura started to speak, but Audrey quickly cut her off. _"I can't be here any longer knowing what I know about my father. I thought I would be able to handle it, but it's just too much. Every time I see him, I think about how he murdered my mother and I just want to pull out my gun and shoot him."_

_"Audrey you need to think rationally. There really is no point in you coming here."_ Laura said.

Audrey sighed and moved away from the window. _"I just have to get out of here. Away from this house. There have been so many times that I've wanted to come out and tell him that I know all about every horrible thing that he has done. Too many times. I'm afraid that if I stay here much longer I'll let something slip."_

Laura sighed and sat in silence for a moment. _"Go to the airport. I'll have someone waiting there for you. You'll know him when you see him."_

_"Thank you Irina."_ Audrey disconnected from her call with Laura and went back to folding clothes into her bag.

               _"I don't understand how she thinks anymore. Why is she so protective of Sark?"_ Sloane asked Jack as they stood in front of Sloane's house.

_"I really don't think Audrey's reaction was surprising. She thought Sark was someone she could trust. Once she gets over the shock of it, I'm sure she'll come around. Learning that someone you loved was lying to you throughout the entirety of your relationship takes some time to get over."_ Jack shrugged and glanced down at his watch. _"I should go now. I'll get in touch with you once Sydney contacts me."_

Sloane nodded and watched as Jack got in his car and drove off. Sloane went back into the house and sighed as he glanced up the stairs and saw Audrey's closed bedroom door. He made his way up the stairs, deciding that now was as good a time as ever to speak with Audrey. Sloane hesitated for a second before knocking as he listened to the sounds of Audrey moving around in her room. Finally, he knocked.

Audrey groaned inwardly when she heard the knock at her door. She had known that her father would be coming to confront her, she just hadn't expected it to be so soon. 

_"You can come in Dad."_ she said as she plastered a fake smile on her face.

_"Audrey are you okay? I just wanted to make sure that you…" _Sloane paused as he glanced around Audrey's room and saw that she had a packed duffel bag sitting on her bed. _"Where are you going?"_

Audrey sighed as she stood up from the desk chair where she had been sitting and looked into her father's eyes. _"I… I thought that I was all right, but I'm not."_

Sloane interrupted Audrey. _"What are you saying? Do you want to go back to London? Does this have anything to do with what happened today?"_

Audrey shook her head. _"Today was just a catalyst for my decision.  I've been feeling like this for the last few days. Everything here in this house holds a memory of Mom for me. I should have known that  I wouldn't have been able to stay here without constantly thinking about her. I just… need to get away for a couple of days. Clear my head." _

Sloane stared at Audrey for a few seconds, thinking about what she had just said. _"Do you think living in this place is any easier for me? Audrey, you can't just runaway from something that is difficult for you."_

Audrey sighed and sat down on her bed. _"Dad I'm not running away. I thought that if I threw myself into my work, I'd feel better, but after everything that happened today I just feel worse. I just need a couple of days to myself." _

_"If that's what you want then I won't stop you."_ Sloane sat down on the bed next to Audrey and took her hand. _"I know how close you were with your mother, but please remember that I'm here too."_

Audrey managed to smile at her father. She squeezed his hand gently and replied, _"Thanks Daddy. You don't know how much I appreciate hearing that."_ She glanced over at the bedside clock and stood up. _"I think I should go now. I'd like to get there before dark."_

Sloane looked up as Audrey picked up her duffel bag and dug her car keys out of her pocketbook. _"Where are you going?"_

_"Remember how I went down to Malibu right after Mom died?" _Audrey watched as Sloane nodded. She continued, _"I bumped into an old friend there and she said that I was welcome to stay at her house anytime. I spoke with her this afternoon and she invited me down."_

Sloane got up and held his arms open to his daughter. Audrey hesitated for a moment before embracing him. 

_"Goodbye Dad." _She said, looking a little tearful.

Sloane squeezed Audrey's hand softly. _"Goodbye honey."_

Dublin                           

**Dublin Airport**

               Sydney glanced around the airport, in search of someone who looked like they could be working with Laura. Sydney gasped when she felt the unmistakable shape of a gun pressed against her shoulder blade. 

_"Don't turn around. Don't try to get away. I don't want to have to use this gun, but if you don't come with me you will die."_ a Russian accented voice ordered.

Sydney shivered slightly as she felt the cold steel of the gun through her thin sweater. _"Where are you taking me?"_ she demanded.

_"To see your mother."_ the voice sneered. Sydney felt a hand grab her upper arm. _"Come with me now."_

Sydney saw that she was being guided towards one of the exits.  They made their way out of the building and towards a nearby parking lot. Sydney was shoved into the passenger seat of a car by the man.  He knelt down in front of her and roughly grabbed both her hands.

_"Who are you?"_ Sydney asked as the man clicked the handcuffs on her wrists into place.

The man got up from in front of Sydney and slammed the passenger side door closed. He got into the drivers side, started up the car and made his way out of the parking lot without answering Sydney's question. Sydney leaned her head against the cool glass of the window and sighed.

Laura Bristow's Offices

              _"Get in there and sit down."_ The man who had escorted Sydney from the airport ordered.

He shoved Sydney slightly, causing her to stumble into the small room. Sydney swung around in an attempt to confront the man, but he slammed the door shut and locked it before Sydney had a chance to speak. Sydney took stock of the room carefully, searching for a way out.  She sighed when she saw there were no windows or air ducts large enough for her to fit through. The only means of escape was the locked door. Not that she would be able to escape anyway, Sydney thought dejectedly as she pulled at her handcuffs. Sydney saw that the room was sparsely furnished. Only a shabbily upholstered couch and a small table with a lamp on it decorated the room. Sydney sat down on the couch with a sigh, knowing that her mother was bound to keep her waiting for a long time.

             Laura stared at the monitor that held the image of her daughter slumped on the couch. Laura had been watching her for two hours, taking in every one of Sydney's features and matching them up to various ancestors as she had done when Sydney was a child. Every time Laura looked at Sydney she got a chill up her spine. Sydney's resemblance to her own sister was uncanny.  Laura shook her head in an attempt to shake off the memories of the sister that was lost to her in a KGB raid more than thirty years ago. She sighed, thinking of all the people who had been lost to her because of the life she had led. She willed herself to stop thinking of the past and focus on the future. Laura got up from her chair and went to speak with her daughter.

              Agent Vaughn paced back and forth across his room shaking with anticipation. Today was the day he regained his freedom. He could sense that something was happening outside his door. There were more voices than usual and the sound of hurried feet walking past his door came with more frequency than usual. _"Please don't let them have Sydney again."_ Vaughn thought. Vaughn stopped pacing when he realized that someone was unlocking the door to his room. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for his visitor to enter.

_"Agent Vaughn, how are you this morning?"_ the unusually chipper voice of Khasinau asked. Vaughn watched as Khasinau pushed the door open and entered the room. 

Vaughn stared at him warily, used to seeing Khasinau glare at him over the barrel of a gun. The sight of a smile on the man's face unnerved Vaughn.

_"Tell me what's going on."_ Vaughn demanded, narrowing his eyes at Khasinau.

_"Agent Vaughn! Try not to be so serious."_ Khasinau chided him. _"Today is a day for great things."_ Then, growing more gruff, Khasinau grabbed Vaughn's arm and pulled his out of his room. _"We have someone who I think you'll be happy to meet."_

Vaughn nearly gasped when he realized that Khasinau was alluding to the fact that Laura now had Sydney, but managed to keep his face stoic as Khasinau pulled him down a hallway. 

               Sydney glanced up as the door to the room where she was being held captive swung open. Laura leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms in front of her chest, smiling slightly at the site of Sydney.

_"Hello Mother."_ Sydney said, putting as much venom in her voice as she could muster. 

Laura smiled broadly at Sydney. _"You really are your mother's daughter Sydney."_

Sydney let out a loud fake laugh at that. _"We went through this the last time we met Mother. You left me too long ago to be allowed to make judgments about my character."_

The two women glared at each other as Laura made her way towards the couch and sat down next to Sydney. 

Sydney leaned back a little, hating that she had to be so close to Laura. _"Where the hell is Agent Vaughn?"_ she ordered.

_"Oh you'll be seeing him soon enough. I thought we could have a mother-daughter chat first."_ Laura responded, leaning closer to Sydney.

Sydney chuckled at that. _"What do you want to talk about? The new fall fashions?"_ Sydney narrowed her eyes at her mother and glared at her for a few seconds. _"You and I have nothing to speak about."_

_"On the contrary Sydney. We have everything to speak about." _Laura touched Sydney's arm as she spoke, causing Sydney to visibly recoil. _"Aren't you the least bit curious as to why you're here? Why we've kept Agent Vaughn for so long? And you can't tell me that you aren't dying to know what the Circumference is for."_

_"I don't care any more! I'm tired of this. I'm tired of being manipulated by people who I thought loved me!"_ Sydney yelled. _"You are my mother and you just left me alone like I was something completely insignificant to you! How could you? How could you be so heartless?"_ Sydney shook with anger as she stared into Laura's eyes. She sighed slightly, feeling relieved at finally releasing the thoughts that she had pent up for the last few months.

Laura stared into Sydney's eyes with a venomous look on her face. _"Contrary to what you may believe, I am not the enemy."_

Sydney laughed and shook her head. _"You really are deluded aren't you?"_

Before Laura could answer there was a knock at the door. Sydney looked up and saw that Khasinau was lurking in the doorway with an angry looking Agent Vaughn in tow. 

Sydney gasped. _"Vaughn!"_ She started to get up from the couch, but Laura grabbed her elbow and pulled her back down.

_"Agent Vaughn, how nice of you to join us."_ Laura got up from the couch and shot Sydney a look warning her to stay put. She walked over towards Vaughn and Khasinau and smiled at the two men. _"Our group is nearly complete. Mr. Sark should be arriving shortly with our final guest."_

Sydney narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out who it was that Laura was talking about. She snapped back to attention when she heard Laura speaking. 

_"Why don't you take a seat next to Sydney, Agent Vaughn?"_ Laura took his arm and lead him over to the couch. She bent down in front of Sydney and Vaughn, staring each of them in the eye. She turned to Vaughn. _"Does being near this woman jog your memory Agent Vaughn?"_

Vaughn studied Sydney's face carefully, concentrating on each feature. His face blank and impassive, Vaughn turned to Laura. _"I've never seen her before in my life."_

Laura sighed, eyes roaming Vaughn's face, searching for a hint that he was lying. The shrill ring of Khasinau's cellular phone broke the tension that had grown thick around them. The three looked up and watched as Khasinau disappeared out the door only to reappear moments later with a small smile on his face. 

_"Mr. Sark has called to inform me that he has just arrived with our missing guest."_ he said.

_"Wonderful!"_ Laura exclaimed as she made her way towards the door. She gestured for Sydney and Vaughn to follow her. _"Come with me."_ Laura started walking down a long corridor with Vaughn and Sydney following her and Khasinau them, his hand on his weapon just in case the need to use it arose. 

               Audrey sighed deeply as she stood in front of the door leading to Laura's laboratory. _"Maybe I'm making a mistake. Maybe Sydney shouldn't know about my involvement in this."_

Sark came up behind her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her. _"One way or another Sydney will find out. The sooner she accepts that you know the truth about SD-6 and have been working with Mother, the sooner you can have a real honest relationship with her."_

_"How will she handle learning that I knew her mother was alive three years before she did?"_ Audrey whispered, turning around to face Sark.  _"She'll never forgive me."_ Audrey looked down at the floor while tears sprang to her eyes.

Sark gently took hold of Audrey's chin and tilted her head upward so that she was looking into his eyes. _"You did nothing wrong love."_ he whispered in a soothing voice. _"My mother asked you not to speak to Sydney about her. You were just following orders."_

Audrey nodded vigorously as she wiped the tears that had fallen away from her cheeks, trying to convince herself that what Sark was saying was true. _"Right. You're right."_

Sark placed his hand on the door knob. He turned around to face Audrey. _"Are you ready?"_

Audrey nodded, whispering _"As I'll ever be."_ under her breath.             

               Sydney glanced around the large room, taking in all of the computer and technological equipment stored inside. _"Marshall would love this place." _she thought.

Laura walked over to a large desk and gestured for Sydney and Vaughn to follow. Once Sydney approached the desk Laura held up a paper and showed it to Sydney. _"Does this look familiar?"_ she asked.

Sydney studied the paper carefully, recognition dawning on her face. _"These are the blueprints to the Circumference!"_ She stared at her mother. _"Why are you showing this to me?"_

_"This is the greatest power Sydney. Once this device is built large enough it will create a power source great enough to power a small country."_ Laura stared at Sydney. _"Do you understand why I need you here while it's being built?"_

Sydney shook her head in an attempt to clear the jumbled thoughts that were swirling around in her brain. _"I always thought that the greatest power was my country."_ She stared from her mother to the paper and back again. _"Why would I want to destroy this?"_

_"That's the one thing we don't know. I need you here with me while the Circumference is being rebuilt in order to protect my investment."_ Laura replied. 

Sydney glanced at Vaughn who had been listening to their conversation intently. _"Why is he here?"_

Laura shrugged. _"Holding him captive was the only way to get you here. Willingly anyway."_

Sydney began to respond buy stopped speaking when a door on the other side of the room opened. Sydney gasped. _"Audrey!"_ She turned her bewildered eyes back to Laura. _"Don't hurt her."_

Laura chuckled slightly. _"Hurt her? She's been a valuable asset throughout this entire operation."_

Sydney shook her head, unable to comprehend. She turned to Audrey. _"What is she talking about? Please tell me she's lying."_

_"I wish I could."_ Audrey stepped closer to Sydney. _"I've been helping your mother gather information for the past three years."_

Sydney looked as if she had been slapped. _"You… you knew my mother was alive?"_ Sydney tearfully asked. _"You were one of my closest friends! I thought I could trust you. How coul…."_ A loud gunshot followed by an explosion interrupted Sydney. Everybody turned in the direction of the shot and gasped as a bullet caught Khasinau in the back of the head and knocked him to the floor, dead before he hit the ground. Sydney glanced around, searching for the sniper when the bright flash of another explosion momentarily blinded her. _"What the hell is that?"_ she yelled as she dove for the gun that had slid her way when Khasinau fell.

_"They are containers full of gasoline the scientists were using in their experiments."_ Laura called as she watched in horror as the whole laboratory began to go up in flames. _"We have to get out of here!"_

Just then five well armed men burst into the room, sending gunfire raining down on the group. Sydney and Vaughn ducked under a table. 

Vaughn yanked a gun out from under his shirt. _"We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. This place is like a tinder box, it will go up any minute."_

Sydney gaped at Vaughn. _"You're…"_ she trailed off when a bullet nearly missed her shoulder. 

_"We'll discuss that later."_ Vaughn pointed at a pair of double doors at the far end of the room. _"We need to get to those doors as quickly as possible." _

Sydney nodded, preparing to sprint for the doors. _"I can't believe that you're alright."_

Vaughn gave Sydney a small tight smile. _"Yeah, I'm good. Are you ready?_" Sydney nodded. _"On my count. One. Two. GO!"_ Vaughn yelled and sprinted towards the doors, killing two gunmen as he ran. 

Sydney was right on his heels, managing to kill another gunman. She stopped short when she saw one of the final two gunmen approaching her mother from behind. 

_"Mom!"_ she called as she fired her gun.

The gunman turned around when he heard Sydney call her mother and managed to get away from the bullet a split second before it hit him. Sydney watched in horror as Laura collapsed across the table in front of her, a large red pool of blood gathering on the back of her jacket. 

_"Oh my God!"_ Sydney screamed, nearly hysterical at the site of her mother splayed like a rag doll on the table. 

Sydney jumped as the sound of another gunshot brought her back to reality. She looked up in time to see the gunman she had aimed at fall to the ground. 

_"Mom. Mom! Please look at me."_ Sydney howled. 

She raced over to her mother's side and felt for a pulse at her throat. Not finding one, Sydney backed away from her mother repeating the word _"No!"_ over and over again as she choked on the thick smoke that was beginning to fill the room.

She glanced up and met Audrey's eyes for a split second before the crack of another gunshot sounded through the room. Sydney saw Audrey turn towards Sark and reach out to catch him as he fell. Sydney's eyes roamed around the room, searching for the last of the gunmen. Her peripheral vision picked up the sight of a figure dressed in black making its way towards a window. Sydney raised her still cuffed hands, training her gun on the man. She pulled the trigger as tears began to run down her cheeks.

Sydney turned around and watched as Audrey sobbed on the floor with Sark in her arms. Audrey looked up into Sydney's eyes, tears running down her cheeks. 

_"Audrey, come with me! We have to get out of here."_ Sydney called.

Audrey started to get up but watched in horror as a flaming beam fell between her and Sydney. Their eyes met through the smoke and flames once again. 

_"Sydney! Go, please."_ Audrey yelled. _"I'll be alright."_

_"I can't leave you."_ Sydney began, but then gasped in horror as another explosion sounded throughout the building. Flaming pieces of ceiling began to fall down around her.

Sydney was unable to see Audrey through the thick black smoke, she just heard her yelling the word _"Go."_

Sydney felt a hand grab her and pull her towards the doors. 

_"Sydney please move!"_ Vaughn shouted, trying not to inhale the smoke.

Half carrying Sydney, Vaughn sprinted towards the exit and down the short flight of stairs out of the building. He stopped a safe distance from the building and placed his hands on Sydney's shoulders. _"Are you alright?"_

Sydney bent over and placed her hands on her knees, drawing in deep breaths of air. She glanced up towards the burning building with a look of horror on her face. 

_"They're all dead."_ she whispered as she turned to Vaughn.

Vaughn wrapped his arms around Sydney and pulled her close, trying to console the inconsolable.

Los Angeles 

Abandoned Warehouse

_Two Weeks Later_

Sydney walked into the warehouse anxious to see Agent Vaughn. Jack had informed her that Vaughn would have some information about the fire in Dublin for her.

Not bothering to exchange pleasantries with Vaughn, Sydney quickly asked for an explanation. _"Tell me what happened."_

Vaughn handed over a file an inch thick, filled with information about the investigation. Sydney read through the file, going over the information quickly. _"They only found seven bodies."_ She stated looking up at Vaughn. _"Who got out alive?"_

End episode five.


End file.
